The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Youth are the driving force behind Black Lives Matter
Ultimately, youth were the hidden driving force behind the Civil Rights Movement when it was at its peak in the 1960s. Young Americans led numerous impactful events during the era from Woolworth’s sit-in to the formation of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee.
Fresh enthusiasm coupled with impatience regarding the slow progress of the Civil Rights Movement contributed to the powerful way youth used their voice to protest and speak out. Sound familiar?
It should. The fact of the matter is the Civil Rights Movement never ended. Black employees are paid 25 percent less than their white counterparts. Black men in the United States receive sentences that are 19.1 percent longer than white men convicted for the same crimes.
Black people have nearly twice the risk of being killed by police using excessive force in comparison to the total American population. If the deaths of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and George Floyd, the assault of two black teenagers by police officers for jaywalking, and the spread of racism and hate speech across social media has shown anything in the past few weeks, it’s that the Civil Rights Movement is far from over and racial equality has a long way to go.
This re-popularization of the Civil Rights Movement, known best as the Black Lives Matter movement, continues to honor the tradition of having youth at the forefront of its efforts.
Young people are protesting police brutality and systematic racism in the streets, speaking out against racial discrimination on social media, and fighting for Black lives to consistently matter.
Connecticut is no exception. Students were the ones to organize and participate in the peaceful protests in Danbury on June 3 and June 6, protests that earned the support of Mayor Mark Boughton and the Danbury Police Department.
Raechel Langan, a senior at the Alternative Center of Excellence, was one of the many students who organized the protest. “We were inspired to protest after seeing Black people getting killed and wrongly accused by the police and the sheer amount of injustice and discrimination in our country,” Langan said on behalf of her co-organizers. “We thought that people in our community should get the opportunity to come together and have their voices heard.”
Langan and her co-organizers had their goals achieved: Voices were heard. Danbury High School Principal Dan Donovan claimed that DHS Alumni Soloman James, one of the protests’ organizers, has Danbury’s “full support.”
On social media, students showcased what the protests were fighting for. DHS junior Mekyle McCollough was ultimately grateful for the protest. “As a black man myself, I thoroughly and fully appreciate the love and positivity that was brought out today,” McCollough said, “Today was one of the most wonderful experiences I had in my life because it’s peaceful support for my community that I never thought I would see.”
Enumaah Dadzie, a DHS senior, reciprocated the junior’s thoughts in claiming to be pleasantly “surprised” by her peers. “I am known for constantly speaking up on social justice issues as a black woman, but now I feel like more people have joined in the fight against unjust systems that this country has set in place,” she elaborated.
Yet, despite the fact that fighting for a common cause has peacefully unified many young people, they continue to be on the front lines against harsh criticism and hate speech.
“If watching corporate America burn down angers you more than institutionalized racism, then you are the problem,” DHS senior Pedro Oliveira posted in response to criticisms about burning buildings during protests. “You can rebuild an Arby’s, but you cannot rebuild a life.”
‘Today was one of the most wonderful experiences I had in my life because it’s peaceful support for my community that I never thought I would see.’
Mekyle McCollough,
Danbury High School student
“Doesn’t it say something that black people who are disproportionately more likely to be affected by COVID-19 are willing to risk their health to protest police brutality?” DHS junior Kazi Begum said in response to the criticism that Black Lives Matter protests shouldn’t occur during the pandemic. “Racism is America’s most deep-rooted, longest-lasting pandemic so of course it takes precedence over COVID-19.”
Through these fighting words, it is evident that youths’ voice must prevail. Students must continue to speak out against the inhumane deaths of Atatiana Jefferson, Christopher McCorvey, Eric Reason and many more. Adolescents must continue to march for their black friends who are twice as anxious when their father is “on the road, commuting as anyone would because he is three times more likely not to return home,” as DHS junior Maame Obeng states.
When Obeng addressed all of this in a letter to the Minneapolis Police department requesting for the termination of the officers involved in Floyd’s death, she ended her letter with the statement: “The world appears to be constantly undergoing a never-ending cycle of injustices and it must stop,” and that she was confident it would stop with the right measures.
Young people are taking these right measures. With their help, all four officers who were involved with George Floyd’s murder were fired, arrested, and charged. Mayors of major cities are pledging to cut the funding for their police departments and have banned the use of chokeholds. Police reform bills have been proposed, millions of dollars have been donated to the Black Lives Matter movement, and racism is being recognized for what it is rather than being ignored.
The voice of youth is ultimately the catalyst for racial equality and national reform. Let them be honored and not silenced.